Alwaght- On Wednesday night, hundreds of Americans took to the streets in central Chicago, waving Palestinian flags. They celebrated ceasefire in Gaza. Not only in the US, but also in other Western countries like Sweden and Span people celebrated the ceasefire, all emphasizing that Gaza will once again rise out of the ashes and re-embrace life. Accepting the ceasefire by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other side, drew opposition and fury across the occupied territories, including the capital Tel Aviv, with some Israeli resources describing the deal as belated accepting of defeat by the Israeli government. Meanwhile, many wonder why Netanyahu agreed to a deal with Gaza.
Brave resistance
The unyielding resistance of the people of Gaza against the attacks of the Israeli regime was undoubtedly one of the reasons for Netanyahu's fatigue and failure to achieve his goals in the war against Gaza. The Israeli army repeatedly displaced the residents of the northern Gaza Strip, relocating them many times in the cold of winter, but the people of Gaza never refused to leave this coastal enclave. There was no sign of surrender by the people of Gaza, and despite all the hardships and about 50,000 deaths, 2 million displaced people, and hundreds of thousands of destroyed housing units, the people of Gaza showed that they just do not leave their homeland. Recently, the prestigious medical weekly Lancet published the results of a study according to which the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war may be much higher than the official statistics. Research by British researchers shows that the number of deaths in the first 9 months of the Gaza war is 41 percent higher than the official statistics published. This study estimates that from October 7 to June 30, that is, the first 9 months of the war, about 64,260 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks. 59 percent of the dead were women, children and the elderly, the magazine reported. Gaza Health Ministry recently announced that more than 45,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. According to the United Nations, almost two million people, or 90 percent of Gaza's population, have been displaced.
Hamas resistance
Netanyahu more than once asserted that one of his aims behind Gaza war was obliteration of Hamas resistance movement. However, after 15 months of carpet bombing that inflicted heavy destruction on the buildings, Hamas fighters are still active and fighting the occupation forces. This very last week, Hamas repeated its rocket launches at the occupied territories, and at least 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hamas. The massive casualties of the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, as well as the continued rocket fire from Gaza towards the occupied territories in recent days, showed that Hamas resistance is still the determining force in the war. On the other hand, in these 15 months, the Israeli army could not even discover the hiding place of the prisoners, and the alleged Hamas tunnels were not fully discovered. In other words, the Israeli army ignominiously failed to destroy Hamas in the war.
Yemen's successful game
One of the reasons for the increased pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire has been the continued attacks by Yemeni forces against the Israeli regime over the past 15 months. Despite the bombing of Yemen by the US and British coalition, as well as several attacks of Yemen by Israeli warplanes, the Yemeni forces have never stopped their attacks, and the missile attacks by the Yemeni forces continue to shake Tel Aviv. The continued attacks by the Yemeni forces against the Israeli regime over the past 15 months has undoubtedly been one of the reasons for the increased pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire.
Home pressure on Netanyahu
Additionally, another factor pressuring Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire has been the home challenges. Netanyahu failed to reach his goals of destroying Hamas and freeing the prisoners, and naturally voices of his opponents rose as war went prolonged. Seeing the war going on without any results, the families of prisoners called for halt of war and striking a deal with Hamas. Almost every night in Tel Aviv for the past three months, war protesters held massive demonstrations demanding a ceasefire agreement for a prisoner swap.
Exhausted Israeli army
Figures of suicide among the Israeli soldiers show that the army no longer can continue the war. According to figures published by the army, 38 soliders committed suicide between 2023 and 2024, 28 of which having taken place after fatal Hamas offensive of October 7. According to the report, 17 soldiers committed suicide in 2023, including 7 active duty soldiers, 4 professional soldiers, and 6 reservists. Of these, 7 occurred immediately after the Hamas attack.
The army's battlefield casualties have been high in Gaza war. While strict military censorship does not allow the publication of accurate statistics on war casualties, the Israeli army reported in statistics presented two weeks ago that 891 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 5,569 others have been wounded since the beginning of the war. According to the Israeli army report, in 2023, the number of Israeli soldiers killed was 558, and 363 in 2024. 329 Israeli officers and soldiers were also killed on October 7, 2023. According to the report, 390 Israeli officers and soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground operation inside the Gaza Strip. Also, 50 officers and soldiers were reported killed in offensive on Lebanon. The number of Israeli army officers and soldiers killed in Hezbollah's missile attacks on northern Israeli settlements is reported 27.
